【Major Chemical Equipment Innovations】038 – The largest domestic EO reactor with a diameter of Ф8.8 meters, featuring an oversized tube sheet forging
Thread Content
The past decade has been a period of rapid development for China’s chemical industry, marked by the emergence of many new processes, products, and equipment. There has also been significant progress in China’s chemical processing equipment, which has contributed to the swift advancement of the petrochemical sector. Here, we have compiled some of the achievements and breakthroughs made by Chinese equipment manufacturers in terms of larger-scale production and greater use of domestic equipment. We invite everyone to share their insights and engage in discussions, to cheer for Made in China and to support the development of chemical processing equipment! *********************************** In July 2019, the Tianjin R&D Center of JFE Heavy Industries took on the task of developing ultra-large tube sheets for EO reactors, working on this project based on the SHENGHONG Petrochemical EO reactor project. R&D personnel and field workers broke free from conventional thinking, pursued innovation, and independently designed a complete set of external forging aids and process control solutions. Recently, China National Heavy Machinery Corporation used its independently developed in-vitro forging technology to successfully forge the largest-diameter EO reactor tube sheet forging in China, with a diameter of Ф8.8 meters, in just one attempt. The EO reactor’s super-large tube sheet forging is in the shape of a circular disc, but this \"disc\" cannot be thrown by human power, as it weighs 210 tons and is as tall as a three-story building when standing upright.
The tube sheet diameter is 8.8 meters, so the cylinder diameter must also be 8.8 meters. Is it the largest of its kind in China?
The tube sheet supplied for this processing operation weighs 100 tons, has a diameter of 8 meters, and a thickness of 220 mm. This tube sheet is used in EO reactor units, which are the core equipment in ethylene oxide production facilities; ethylene oxide, in turn, is an important raw material for manufacturing medical supplies such as masks. In the face of the sudden epidemic, the customer maintained close communication with Daming Heavy Industry regarding resuming production and equipment operation. The tube sheet manufacturing department at Daming Heavy Industry actively brought together personnel from the production, technical, and sales teams to discuss issues such as the arrival time of raw materials, processing plans, and scheduled delivery dates, and these efforts were recognized by the customer. Processing then got underway at full speed, and thanks to the diligent efforts of all employees, it was delivered successfully in the end.